Promises Kept
by Mily
Summary: My first R&C fic! When suspicions arise about Gadgetron our heroes are more than happy to check it out but who is this girl and why does her name sound so familiar...?


Alright, I have decided to start my next video game fic, I'm so enthralled with this game it's ridiculous. Have a good read because this is going to be long, no chapters this time, have fun!

This fic is set sometime between the ending of the first game and the beginning of the next. I hope it won't be too much like a Mary-sue fanfic…

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with the Ratchet and Clank games; they are all owned by the lovely creators at Insomniac. I only own my original characters Kiran and Kale.

Promises Kept

The day was young; our two heroes were caught in a perilous space battle. Ratchet wasn't sure they were going to make it out alive…

"Clank! Watch out on your left! It's totally open!"

"Don't worry about me, your starboard shields are weakening."

"Aw! I didn't even see that guy. Firing missiles!"

"Take that you evil space bandit."

"Phew, I think we're in the clear. Oh no, Clank!"

"What? Oh, rats."

Ratchet switched the video game console off and burst into fits of laughter. "I can't believe you died, man! This game's so easy!"

Clank looked down at his three-fingered metallic hands. "Well, perhaps it may have been easier if I had five digits instead of only three."

"Ah, that's got nothing to do with it, you use your thumbs. Anyway, you just need more practice that's all."

The little robot smiled. "Thank you, want to play another round?"

"Nah… we've been playing it for hours. There's nothing to do, no galaxies in imminent danger, no pretty girls in need of rescuing."

"Ratchet, we never have rescued any 'pretty' girls. Captain Quark however, has."

"Aw, don't talk to me about that blowhard. I heard he's made himself scarce these days anyhow."

"Maybe we should turn on the infobot and see what is what."

Ratchet rolled his eyes and flicked the switch, the infobot sprang to life and opened up into a big screen. The news was on. "Boring…" Ratchet was about to flip the channel when he found the remote had been snatched. "Clank!"

"Hold on, I would like to watch this for a second."

"You just think the reporter's hot…" Ratchet grumbled.

"This is Darla Gratch reporting and it seems we have a suicide mission upon us. A young lombaxian girl is perched upon a tall building today, here in Blackwater city. Many of the locals have turned up to see if it's a goodbye world or live to jump another day. This is Darla Gratch live."

Clank looked at Ratchet then back to the screen. Ratchet did the same but his gaze wandered to his ship. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I certainly hope not, but maybe we should-"

"Great!" Ratchet grabbed the little robot and jumped into the ship. "Blackwater city, here we come!"

They made it there in double-time; poor Clank was worrying the young girl might actually kill herself before they made it. However, the news channel on the infobot continued to do a live recording.

"This is Darla Gratch, the young girl seems to be protesting Gagetron at the cost of her own life. She seems to be waving some sort of banner…"

All of a sudden the camera zoomed up to read the red-inked words which spanned across the large white sheet.

GAGETRON DESTRUCTION

Ratchet glanced at the screen. "I wonder what that means… me and you have both used their gear for a while now. Except for that Personal Hygienator; man that thing stings!"

The camera then panned up toward the girl who was holding the banner. The sun was setting and bathing everything in a vivid orange. The girl had piercing blue eyes which were offset by her now glowing orange fur. Her attire consisted of a white sleeveless shirt with a pair of short jean overalls.

Ratchet stared at the screen almost mesmerized by her appearance. "Wow…"

"Ratchet, we are nearing the planet Rilgar. You might want to initiate the landing procedure."

"Uh huh…" He was still transfixed on the screen.

"Ratchet?" Clank waved his hand over his relaxed gaze, no response not even a blink. "Oh, dear." Clank then figured he had to do something drastic, he put his thumb and index finger together and lightly pinched Ratchet's tail.

Now if you were a fellow lombax, you would know that they _never _like having their tails squeezed, pulled and absolutely never pinched.

Ratchet yelped and jumped so high his head hit the top of the ship. "Ow! Clank! Why did you DO that!" he whined rubbing his tail.

"You must land the ship!" Clank was getting desperate now.

They were past the planet's atmosphere and nearing the city. "Uh, right! I knew that. Looks like we're going to make it; let's land on that nearby building," he said, expertly steering the ship.

The girl was completely unaware of the ship that settled a ways from her standpoint. She now had a megaphone and was yelling things to the crowd below.

"Gagetron is a dangerous company! Drek may have been the one destroying our planets but Gagetron was providing!"

Using Clank in his thruster-pack mode Ratchet easily leapt from one building to another. He landed on the one she stood upon and still, she seemed not to notice.

"Um, you don't wanna do that," he said as he lightly touched down on the roof.

Almost at once the girl whipped her head around to see who said that. However, she nearly lost her balance in doing so.

"Who are… ahh!" she yelped and wobbled while waving her arms for balance.

"Whoa, whoa!" Ratchet dashed up to catch her before she fell; he succeeded in yanking her out of danger and into his arms.

She breathed heavily for a few seconds and roughly pushed herself away. "You, idiot! I wasn't actually going to jump!"

"Well, what the heck are you doing on the edge of a skyscraper anyway!" Ratchet asked, annoyed with the response her received from saving her.

"None of your business," she replied firmly.

"Fine then, I hope this is the way you treat everyone who saves your life," he said, his words dripping with sarcasm.

"Fine!"

Ratchet turned tail and stalked back to his ship. He angrily jumped in and shut the top almost too quickly for Clank himself to jump in.

He punched the dashboard in frustration. "Damnit! Remind me again why we went here!"

"You were curious? And bored?"

"God, next time I get a stupid idea to save someone, tell me not to. Remind me of this instead."

The girl sighed in relief as she saw their ship fly up through the clouds and out of the planet.

"Kir, is he gone?" a second voice piped up next to the girl.

"Yeah, that was a little too close."

"He can't find out what we're planning. You know that don't you?"

"Brak is planning something for him anyway…"

"Not yet, you'll know when it's time. We have to do everything according to _his_ plans anyway, remember?"

Meanwhile the crowd was dissipating as they finally realized it was all just a show and nothing more. It was dusk and the first few stars were beginning to show themselves.

* * *

Ratchet and Clank were lazily flying back towards Veldin. The lombax had calmed down enough to put the ship on auto-pilot making it possible for him to catch a few Z's on the way. 

"Ratchet?"

"Hm?"

"Something isn't adding up here, why would that girl be protesting Gagetron? I know for a fact they have nothing to hide."

"You've been talking to that receptionist again haven't you?"

"Why would you get that idea?"

Ratchet just smiled and raised an eyebrow; if robots could blush Clank would be the colour of a tomato.

"Right…don't worry, we'll figure it out. Wake me when we get there."

Their arrival back to the planet was swift and before Ratchet knew it he was being woken up to land the ship.

He was still thinking about that mysterious girl and wondering if she really was against the company that had helped him save the Galaxy. Not to mention her–plus many, many other lives along with hers.

"It just doesn't add up…" he said to himself as himself and Clank entered their home.

The time on Veldin was earlier than that of Rilgar and the sun was still relatively high.

Ratchet plopped down in his favourite armchair all worn and beige-coloured and flicked on the infobot.

"Please don't be news…" he said to himself.

The screen flickered and heroic music began to play.

"It's time for another episode of Behind the Hero the villain's edition. We have here chairman Drek, evildoer who almost destroyed every planet in the Galaxy. We are now discovering that if he had succeeded he would have polluted the new planet in order to be paid to build a new one!"

"Well, duh…" Ratchet said to himself and continued watching.

"We have here Drek's son Brak. Here to talk about his late father."

Ratchet's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "Son! Clank you gotta watch this!"

"Well, we all know my dad was all big and evil and stuff. But I promise to better the Galaxy, which is why I have bought out the Gagetron Company. We will better the Galaxy with safer weapons and more friendly home appliances. Uh, no more items like the Personal Hygienator we promise."

"Well that's all the time we have here. Join us for another episode of Behind the Hero tomorrow at 8."

Clank and Ratchet looked at each other in shock and then back at the infobot again which was now showing The Robotic Chef.

"This… could be a problem…" Ratchet said.

"Maybe he won't be evil like his father," all Clank received from this statement was a look of 'yeah, right' from Ratchet. "It was just a thought."

"Maybe this was why the girl was protesting it! She probably already knew… Clank we have to find her again! What if she knows more?"

"She could be anywhere by now. Where do you propose we start looking?"

"We need to check out the Gagetron homeworld first, but…" he gave a large yawn. "In the morning we'll do it."

Clank nodded and proceeded into shutdown mode. His arms and legs began to retract while his glowing green eyes faded into nothing and slowly closed.

Ratchet yawned again and threw off his old leather gloves and hat. He also undid his pants and proceeded to sleep in nothing but his boxer-shorts. After all, it was a mildly humid on the particular night on Veldin.

* * *

"I've done what you've asked of me, you must let me visit him now!" 

"Ah, be patient Kiran. You'll get to see you're brother soon enough. Anyway, it's time for you to receive your next mission."

"Which is?"

"Ratchet and Clank must pay for what they've done to my father. You must lead them into my trap; I know he must have seen me on the infobot. He will probably want to check out the Kalebo III. Befriend them and I will tell you more once you have done that."

"Ratchet…? But he saved me today… I can't- I won't!"

"You have no choice, obey me or your brother will die."

"Yes sir…" she turned to leave.

"Oh, and Kiran? Don't get too attached to them, it will only make it worse when the time comes."

* * *

"C'mon Clank! We don't have all day you know," an impatient but rested Ratchet whined. 

"I am coming." The robot replied. "My start-up sequence was a little delayed."

"Whatever, just hop in."

In no time at all they reached the futuristic blue-skied planet Kalebo III. All looked as it did the last time they had arrived. Ratchet jumped onto the blue moving sidewalk he smiled widely.

"Why should I walk when I don't have to?" he asked no one in particular.

Clank didn't answer; he was still wondering why it had taken so long for him to 'wake up'.

Suddenly Ratchet's sensitive ears picked up a faint scream. "Clank! Did you hear that?"

"My sensors indicate there is someone in danger to the left of our current position."

Ratchet activated his Devastator, he had no idea what to expect. He turned around many twists and turns through long corridors. He arrived to see a cowering girl surrounded by menacing floating robots.

"Leave… me… alone!" she yelled and launched herself into a roundhouse kick attack causing one of the robots to be propelled backward.

The other robots saw her now as a threat and open-fired. Through the dozens of yellow laser beams one of them got her in the leg causing her to cry out in pain.

This only angered Ratchet more as he unleashed the Devastator on them. He didn't stop firing until they were reduced to nothing but bolts he could use as extra change.

"Are you all right?" He asked helping her get up.

"Yes, but my leg… ow!" she was unable to walk and had to use Ratchet's arm for support.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." He took out a small tube. "Nanotech cream, a little invention of Clank's, it will stop the bleeding long enough for us to properly bandage it."

"Thank you…" was all she could manage as he began to roll up her pant-leg. "Hey!" she protested deeply blushing under her fur.

"Sorry, would you like to do it?" he asked with some sarcasm in his voice.

She frowned. "Fine." She glared at him and began to roll it up herself.

Ratchet finally realized who this was. "You're that girl from yesterday!"

"You finally noticed," she said flatly.

"So what were you doing just now? Breaking into Gagetron to sabotage the company?"

"Of course not! I was trying to download some info out of their database when these guys jumped me." She pointed to the piles of twisted metal still not yet cleared by the cleaning bots.

"Oh… I see." Ratchet mentally scolded himself for acting so suspicious. He also realized her leg still needed attending to. He squeezed a bit of the glowing gel out of the tube and spread it on the laser wound.

Kiran suddenly felt a tingling sensation as she watched her cut almost magically seal itself up. "Whoa…"

"That won't hold for long though, we should get back to my place. I have a lot of first aid stuff," he laughed slightly. "I tend to get a lot of scrapes and bruises."

Kiran was surprised when she could get up off the floor but her leg still had an ache to it and she needed some support from Ratchet. "Damn robots…"

Back on Veldin some time later…

"Ow, ow, ow! Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Kiran complained.

"Yes! I get hurt more than anyone I know; I just have a higher pain tolerance than you!" retorted Ratchet who had just finished cleaning the cut with antibacterial soap.

Kiran just stopped talking at this point; she figured what's the use? She then though maybe leading him into a trap wasn't such a bad idea. This could have been the pain talking though.

"Now hold still…" Ratchet wrapped a bandage around and around securing it tightly. "There…"

Kiran looked at her cut all nicely cleaned and bandaged. She felt a bit guilty about what she had thought about a minute ago. "So, you're Ratchet right?"

"The one and only!" he grinned.

"and you're Clank right?" she said gesturing toward the small robot who was completely immersed in some book.

"Who might you be?" Clank asked, now looking up.

Kiran paused, would it be alright if they knew? In the end she guessed it wouldn't matter anyway.

"My name is, Kiran."

"Ki- that… name sounds awfully familiar…"

"It was one of the capital cities destroyed on Oltanis. Is that correct?" he said addressing her.

Her expression changed to that of a depressed one. "Yes, I and my family lived there."

Clank said nothing more, even Ratchet knew he would be way out of line if he pried more into this.

"So…" Ratchet said thinking of something to change the subject. "You, hungry?"

* * *

Chairman Brak paced back and forth upon his Space Station orbiting the Planet Kalebo III. He was down in the brig trying an unsuccessful interrogation of Kiran's brother. 

"Now, for the last time, tell me where you hid the last part!"

"Never! You will never lay eyes on it, nor will my sister lead anyone into your stupid trap."

"If you don't tell me, I'll make sure you'll never see the light of day again!"

The chained lombax scoffed, this guy really was an idiot. "Oh no…" he gasped in sarcasm.

"You think this is funny! Once I'm done with you, your sister will never even recognize you…"

"Whatever, I'll try anything once."

"Watch your back Kale, you will tell me where you've hidden it." Brak turned away from the cell. "Guards!" he barked, "no rations for this one!"

Kale said nothing; he knew wherever Kiran was she'd be safe. Brak's biggest mistake was letting her cross paths with Ratchet. He didn't care what happened to him as long as she was protected.

* * *

**Flashback Dream**

"Na, na, na, na, na!"

"Give me my doll! You green freaks!" a young Kiran jumped and twisted to get her toy.

The older three-fingered children held it just out of her reach. "You're too short and furry, ha! Besides, this toy is much too good for you."

"Give it!" she felt tears come to her eyes.

"Aw, are you gonna cry? Here!" one of the older kids threw the doll over their shoulder.

"Kale!" she sobbed.

The doll was caught as a dark figure loomed over the bullies. "Leave my sister alone…"

"Oh yeah? Wha- what are you gonna do about it?" one of the braver ones asked.

"If I ever catch you teasing her again, don't ever set foot on this playground unless you want to answer to me." He curled his five-fingered hand into a rather large fist.

The bullies said nothing but backed away slowly. "Mommy!" one of them yelled.

"Kale…"

"It's all right now, Kiran. They won't bother you again."

"Thank you…"

**End Dream**

Kiran sat bolt upright in bed, she had been having this reoccurring dream for weeks now. For a moment she was a bit disoriented, this didn't at all look or feel like the hard military cots she had slept on in Brak's ship. Suddenly the memories came flooding back as she remembered Ratchet giving up his bed for her to sleep on.

She eased herself out of bed careful to not put too much weight on her leg but she could hardly feel the pain anymore. The sun had not yet risen for the sky was still greyish and had a few stars twinkling. She walked out to the living room where Ratchet was lightly snoring all curled up in his armchair. Clank was on the opposite side of the room still in sleep mode.

Kiran jumped when she heard her wristwatch rapidly begin beeping. She quickly but quietly ran towards the window. Throwing it open she pressed another button causing a small screen to flip up. The fuzzy image cleared to be the ugly face of Brak.

"What!" she whispered.

"You have befriended them, correct?"

"I guess…"

"Good… you will lead them Orxon. My trap is set and ready, don't mess this up!"

"Yes, sir…"

The screen flipped back down again as the message ended. She sighed and held her head in her hands. She walked back into the living room, Ratchet and Clank were still sleeping. The silence was quite calming until she stepped on a certain place on the floor causing a loud crreeaak.

"Wha!" Ratchet was shaken awake so suddenly he fell onto the floor. He quickly stood up and almost forgot he was in his boxer shorts.

Kiran just blushed. "Morning?"

"You might say that," Ratchet said also blushing and now wrapping his blanket around his waist. "You must have stepped on the creaky floorboard. I've been meaning to get that fixed."

"Uh huh… why isn't Clank awake yet?"

"Actually I'm not sure…this has happened once or twice and it isn't supposed to. Usually the slightest noise boots him up again." He tapped on Clank's head. "Yo, Clank!"

This action caused Clank to immediately wake up. "Yes I will not reveal the part!" he quickly jabbered.

"Yo, Clank it's us what's up with you?" Ratchet asked a bit worriedly.

"Why, nothing. Would you feel better if I ran a full systems check on myself?"

"Actually, yes."

"Proceeding." Clank checked all of his internal systems in a few short minutes. "Scan complete, there seems to be nothing wrong with me."

"Hm… and what were you muttering when you first woke up?"

Kiran paled, she had to do something. "Uh! Pay no attention to that, robots sometimes have crazy dreams you know!" she laughed nervously.

Ratchet just gave her a strange look. "Oookay… I'll just assume everyone woke up weird today."

"Heh, heh…" Kiran was still a little nervous. "So uh, how about that breakfast?"

"Well, we need to eat fast, I planned to check out Gagetron and I will."

"Y-you will?"

"Yeah, and you're gonna help."

Kiran's expression changed. Was he actually ordering her around?

"I am? What makes you say that?"

"I need to know what the hell is going on. For instance, why were you protesting? Also, why does Drek's son suddenly buy out Gagetron?"

"Uh… I…" This was going to be harder than she thought. "Later we could check out Planet Orxon, maybe you'll find something there."

"Great idea, we'll go there after." Ratchet said.

"When do we depart?" Clank asked.

"Well…" Ratchet grabbed a couple of fruits tossing one to Kiran. "Right now."

Kiran caught the fruit but didn't feel much like eating. She lightly laughed at Ratchet who popped the whole thing right in his mouth while trying to pull on his blue pants. He pulled on his gloves and put his hat on he fumbled a bit with the straps and clasped them in the back.

"You going in _that_?" he asked referring to her long white sleep shirt.

Her face burned in embarrassment. "No!" she turned tail and slammed the door.

She emerged seconds later. "Happy?"

"No, impatient! Let's go!"

The three of them somehow fit in the purple Blargian battle cruiser. Kiran had to sit with Clank on her lap as he used his ignition switch to start the ship.

"All right, once again we're off to Kalibo III, I have someone in mind who can clear stuff up for us…"

Kiran didn't have the faintest idea who he could be talking about. All the personnel at Gagetron had been instructed to pretend nothing it wrong and also not to reveal anything.

In a flash they had arrived and did something Kiran didn't expect, they landed on a different part of the planet which was not connected to the rest of the Gagetron building.

"Where are we?" she asked once she had jumped out of the ship.

"Right where we wanna be." He answered and began walking.

They soon reached a small hut. Kiran wondered why she didn't see it on the map before.

Ratchet nonchalantly walked right in without even knocking. "Yo! Joe!" he waved.

"Hey fuzzball, what can I do ya for?" sitting on a swivel chair a green-skinned figure gave a wave with his three-fingered hand.

"The Gagetron vendor?" Kiran said with an air of surprise. "I didn't know… I mean… that you…"

"That I lived in that machine? Ha! Whenever anyone needed to buy something it would be routed right to me where I would send whatever they needed across space and time."

"So, Joe… do you know anything about Gagetron's new owner?" Ratchet asked, plopping down on a nearby stool.

"New owner? It would explain why I'm being replaced."

"Replaced?" Kiran asked.

"Yeah, they think an automated robot can do the job. Damn machines."

Clank's green eyes looked a little saddened.

"Except for you, Clank." Joe said, causing Clank to smile.

"Hm…" Ratchet really didn't want this to be a waste of time. "Have you heard anything?" he asked.

"Actually now that you mention it, I have heard from a few of my inside people that the boss isn't making their jobs easy. Something about a big weapons project and everyone having to work overtime."

This was all Ratchet needed to hear. "Awesome, thanks Joe."

"Anytime, fuzzball."

* * *

Inside Gagetron… 

"Work harder you useless blogs! The machine won't build itself!" The annoying voice of Brak filled the enormous warehouse.

Among one of the workers was an adult female lombax who threw down her wrench causing a large clang.

Brak's attention jolted to the sound and the girl. "What is the meaning of this!"

"You're pushing us too hard! And I for one am not willing to work on a weapon I know nothing about!" she yelled causing the other workers to pause.

"You… insignificant… girl! Get back to work!"

"I won't! I'm leaving this job! Bye!" she turned towards the door which was quickly blocked by two guards. "Let me pass!"

"Sorry, no, you're not allowed to leave, you might tell someone about my plan. That's not allowed, take her to the space station and throw her in the brig!" he yelled to the guards who each took one of her arms and hauled her away.

"Now… anyone one else feeling too energetic? If you feel like sticking around you'll all be rewarded handsomely once this project is finished. Now get back to work!" he turned and walked through an automatic door to step on a transport pad back to his station.

* * *

"Wow." Kiran remarked. 

"_That_ amazed you? You haven't seen anything yet." Ratchet said, throwing his arms up and behind his head.

She snorted in response and looked around. "Hey, where's Clank?"

Ratchet whipped his head to look back and then forward again. "He was just behind us, usually he's strapped to my back… Hey! Clank!"

"You're right… he was just behind us." Kiran walked back a bit and spotted a flash of silver. "That way!" she took off running.

"Wait!" Ratchet complained and followed her breaking into a slow sprint.

Kiran was getting closer she saw Clank now, he was running away obviously to an appointed place but where?

They continued to chase him until he stopped suddenly, right on a transport pad.

"Clank? What the hell, man?" Ratchet asked with a worried expression.

Kiran had to stifle a scream when Clank turned to look at them. His normally green eyes had changed to an evil glowing red colour. The transport pad was then activated and he was gone.

"Clank! CLANK?"

About three seconds later the transport pad began to rapidly beeping.

Kiran's eyes widened in fright. "It's going to self-destruct! Ratchet, come on!"

He didn't seem to hear her. "We can still catch him!"

The beeping had become much faster. "Not if it kills us!" She grabbed his arm and yanked him as far away as she could.

**BOOM!**

The blast from the explosion sent the two of them flying a few feet. Kiran covered her head and curled her tail underneath. She stayed like that for a while until she felt it was safe to look up. Ratchet was lying a bit of a ways from her, he seemed to be unmoving. Kiran got up and brushed herself off a bit, she walked over to Ratchet and turned him over.

"Ratchet?" she shook him a little. "Are you ok?" She knew this was a stupid question because he was obviously unconscious. Looking closer she saw he had been conked in the head with something.

"Great… nice time to get knocked out, Ratchet." She said and grabbed his arms, she tried dragging him a few feet. "Jeez, how much to you weigh!" she strained and dragged him a bit further.

Somehow Kiran had gotten him out of the open and into a forested area. A fire now crackled and spit warming her as she tore some cloth off of her shirt underneath her overalls. The place where Ratchet had been hit was a bit of a welt and she hoped it wasn't a concussion.

Later on she sat there thinking to herself. What was she going to do and why help him at all? If everything went according to Brak's plan he was going to die anyway. She shook her head, inside she knew this was the right thing to do.

Her com-watch beeped again and she flipped it open.

"Yes?"

"What's taking you so long!" Brak angrily whined.

"It will take time, but I'll get him there."

"Good."

"Sir? What has become of the robot?"

"That is none of your concern."

The watch beeped off again leaving Kiran once again alone with her thoughts.

Kale's ears pricked up, he heard struggles and screams coming towards his cell. Worriedly he jumped up hoping it wasn't Kiran.

The figures of two guards barely holding a very feisty girl who appeared to be lombax except for the fact her colouring was much darker than usual. He breathed a sigh of relief, she was too tall to be his sister, but what was she doing here in the first place?

The cell door swung open for a quick second in which the girl was roughly tossed in. She yelped as she hit the floor but not completely for she had felt someone catch her. Almost immediately after regaining her footing she scooted away.

"Wh-who are you?" she bravely called and shuddered when she heard some rustling. "Come where I can see you!"

Kale sighed, he got up from where he was sitting and stepped into the light. He winced slightly when he heard her gasp.

The figure the girl saw move into the light was unmistakably lombax, he wore torn old space suit which appeared to be of a bluish colour. He was a good few inches taller than her causing her to shrink away a bit, the most shocking part however were the horrible scars marring his face and body.

She averted her eyes as if by a reflex action. "Sorry… I didn't mean to stare…"

Kale shrugged. "I'm used to people looking. So what are you doing here anyway?"

"I opposed Brak, I refused to make a weapon of mass destruction to annihilate Veldin. All because he has a grudge against Ratchet! If I were to find that little hairball I'd…"

"Hey, hold on there! It's not Ratchet's fault, you and I both know if he didn't stop Drek there would be no Veldin anyway."

"I know… it's just not fair… he's forcing all of us at Gagetron to make his weapon."

"I know… everything about his plan, I know. That's why I'm in here."

"Oh… he's going to destroy some planet right? Why?"

"He's created a machine that will create another Orxon an unpolluted new planet. He doesn't know his father was the one who wrecked the old one. In order for him to do this he needs the core of another planet. Unfortunately he's picked Veldin… even though it's a smaller planet he's going through with it anyway."

"My… family is on Veldin… he can't do that! Does Ratchet know about this?"

"No, he doesn't he's only picked up bits and pieces, that asshole Brak has forced my sister to lead him onto Orxon where he has a trap laid. She won't do it though, I know my sister, Kiran…"

"That name… your sister has been on the news! She was boycotting Gagetron."

"She was doing it to throw people off, mainly Ratchet, another one of Brak's plans."

"Oh… may I… can I know your name?"

"Kale, and you?"

"I'm called Mandi."

* * *

Ratchet slowly opened his eyes, he tried to sit up but his head was pounding. He turned his head from where he lay. It was morning for the dew stuck to his fur making it slightly damp; mist encircled the clearing making it hard for him to see anything clearly. Kiran was lying next to him breathing slowly and evenly, the fire had gone out and it was slightly cold. 

What happened? Ratchet couldn't quite remember, he thought hard until the answer hit him like another ton of bricks. "Clank!" he said.

Kiran stirred in her sleep and yawned. "Morning already…?" she sat up and did a few stretches.

Ratchet was still struggling to sit up. "Why… does my head… feel like it's been taken… apart and put back together… in the wrong way?"

"When the transport pad exploded a piece of debris knocked you upside the head. You're lucky it wasn't serious… you shouldn't try to move yet."

"I have… to find… Clank. It's your fault he's gone!"

"_My_ fault! If it wasn't for me, you'd well… be dead! You wouldn't be able to help anyone if that happened."

"We could've made it! I could've stopped it… somehow!"

"No… there was nothing we could do… you know that!"

Deep down Ratchet did know that, he hated being wrong especially about something so serious. He said nothing to her statement he held his head tightly in an attempt to stop the pounding.

Kiran giggled slightly. "Why are we arguing so early in the morning anyway? You need to eat, don't move I'll be right back."

True to her word she was right back carrying some otherworldly spotted eggs and some strange-looking vegetables.

"Want an omelette?"

Ratchet smiled a bit, he was really hungry but talking made his head hurt more so he just nodded.

"Now how would I get this started again…" she began rubbing two sticks together being very unsuccessful to begin the fire again.

Ratchet sighed and pressed his Pyrocitor button activating the flame-based weapon. "Stand back." He clicked on burst and started the fire with little effort.

"That works too."

Soon they were both eating and Ratchet's head was feeling slightly better. The sun had risen drying their fur and eliminating the mist.

"So, what are we going to do?" Kiran asked.

"'We?' We are not doing anything _I_ am going to rescue Clank and you are going to wait here."

"What! You can't be serious! In your condition you'll be more vulnerable for a surprise attack! Also, you don't even know where Clank is."

"And you do?"

"As a matter of fact yes! He's on Brak's Space Station."

"All right, I'll go there, thanks!"

"You won't know your way around and you'll need someone who does!"

"What, like you? How would you know where to go?"

"I… hacked into their computer system and stole a map, to see if they had taken Clank." Kiran knew this was a blatant lie but she had to know what Brak wanted with Clank.

Ratchet knew there was no use arguing any longer. "Fine… you can come… but you can NOT get in the way!"

"Fine!"

Ratchet's ship was still quietly parked not far from Joe's shack. The two weren't ridiculously off course so finding it again was easy.

Once reaching it they both hopped in when Ratchet let out a frustrated sigh.

"What?" Kiran asked.

"We're going to have to find another way to get there… Clank was my robotic ignition system."

"No… I think we can get there anyway. Can I…?" she asked referring to the masses of wires under a panel she had opened.

"Um, sure?"

"Ok, let's see here…" she cut one wire and attached it to another she did this several times before the ship jolted into ignition. "There!"

"You did it? Awesome!" Ratchet took the wheel and steered the ship upwards. "Here we come…"

Kiran's stomach was making flip flops, why didn't she just remain behind like he had wanted? Maybe no one would see her, maybe…

In no time at all they had arrived, the high tech space station had security drones and guardships everywhere.

"Got any weapons in this thing?"

"Yeah, but not enough to do any real damage. I bet if we come in underneath we could bypass the drones, we might have to shoot down a few guards though."

"You can do it." Kiran said, suddenly feeling a great amount of assurance.

"Thanks… Kiran." Ratchet said blushing a little.

She smiled, it was the first time he had actually said her name. "Let's go."

The ship was sent into a dive and carefully manoeuvred under the security bots a few ships were sent on high alert but quickly shot down with the ship's lasers.

"Now where would Clank be?" he asked hopping out of the ship.

"Check on my map, there must be some kind of lab or secret room…"

"There…" he said pointing to an area marked in green.

Kiran paled, in order to get there they would have to pass through the brig. "Uh… I think I better wait here…"

"What is up with you? You've been nervous ever since you jumped into my ship today. What happened to you wanting to come so badly? Just so you could wait here?"

Kiran didn't know what to say, finally she took a deep breath. "I'm just a little nervous that's all, I'm right behind you."

"It's going to be fine, I'll take care of everything." Ratchet said in an attempt to calm her down.

In Brak's main chamber…

A small alarm began to blare. "Intruders on Level 2, I repeat intruders on Level 2, Sector A."

"Intruders on my station? Here to rescue the tiny robot no doubt." He clicked a button on the panel causing a large screen to shoot up. "You there! Scientist! Have you extracted the information yet?"

"Um, no." the scientist replied in a nasally voice. "The robot is showing a great amount of resistance to our interrogation equipment."

"Well hurry it up! I have to take care of a little pest control anyway." He clicked another button and spoke into a microphone-like device. "All units report to Level 2 Sector A. We have unwelcome guests."

Meanwhile, Ratchet and Kiran had been quietly walking along the large tube-shaped hallway. Their feet making metallic foot-falls as they continued onward.

Ratchet's ears twitched. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" she listened hard.

"Nothing, that's what, it's too quiet…"

They had walked a bit farther until Kiran's ears had pricked up. "Now I hear something…"

"Me too… it's coming closer…" he clicked a button with an electric insignia on his left hand. "Get behind me!" he commanded to Kiran who complied.

At first a few guard robots began to appear, armed with the Tesla Claw Ratchet could destroy them long before they reached their targets.

"There… we're probably in the clear." He turned but Kiran continued to watch behind them.

"You spoke too soon! Run!"

Pretty soon, dozens of guardbots were rushing towards them. Ratchet grabbed Kiran's hand and broke into a run. "How far are we!"

"Take a left! Now a right! Now go straight!" Kiran was hastily looking from the map to where they were running.

Ratchet spotted a small door coming up on their left. "In there!"

"Do it!"

They ducked inside while the hoard of robots rushed right past them. They sank to the floor breathing heavily.

"That's… what I like… about some robots… they're slow…" Ratchet said between breaths.

Kiran looked at the map, this wasn't where they were supposed to be, it was nowhere near the brig. "Did I take a wrong turn…?"

"Maybe your map's busted, because Clank is right there…" he said pointing to a room behind a big glass window.

The little robot was strapped to a bed all hooked up to various types of equipment. Several cat-like scientists were operating the machines causing small bolts of static to make Clank jump and shake.

Ratchet's usually calm expression twisted in anger. "That's… it…. NOBODY does that to Clank!" his grip around his wrench tightened, winding it back he swung at the glass smashing it into a million pieces.

He jumped through and brandished his wrench at the now terrified scientists.

"Oh, mommy don't hurt us!" one of them squeaked.

"UN…hook… him now…" he growled.

Frantically one of the scientists deactivated every piece of equipment causing the wires and cables to shrink away. Clank just lay there now; no power seemed to be running through him for his eyes were a dull grey.

Ratchet carefully approached the table. "Clank…? Buddy…?" he tapped his metal head slightly with no response. "Did you guys kill him!"

Meanwhile, Kiran approached the table as well. She pointed her watch at the antennae on Clank's head and pressed a combination of buttons. A small amount of electricity zapped itself causing the green ball to glow again. Clank's eyes also lit up in green as he opened them wide.

"What… happened…?"

Kiran smiled. "You're ok now, you just needed a jump-start."

It just occurred now to Ratchet that his friend was all right. "Clank! You're ok? You're ok!" he picked him up and sighed. "You scared me… but who fixed you?"

"She did." He said pointing to Kiran who shyly smiled.

"Kiran…?" he approached her and gave her a sudden hug. "Thank you… but how?"

"I'll explain later, we have to get out of here now! And uh… you can let go now." She said and was sure everyone could see how hard she was blushing.

He let go and laughed a bit sheepishly. "Uh… agreed! See ya guys!"

Clank resumed his position as Ratchet's backpack as the three of them stepped on a transport pad back to their ship.

"Let's get out of here…" Ratchet said as he started the ship.

Questions were said as they headed out not sure on what their next destination was going to be.

"What did they want from you, Clank? Do you remember?" Ratchet asked placing the ship on auto-pilot.

"Apparently I have hidden information I, myself did not know about. Somewhere along our travels someone inputted this information to remain hidden."

"Do you know what it is now?"

"Yes, I held information to a location of a certain part needed for the completion of Brak's Planet Corer."

"Planet Corer! As in, destroy one planet by removing its core!"

"Yes."

"Which planet!"

"Veldin…"

Ratchet almost shook with anger. "And where is this part?"

"Oltanis, ruins of the capital city, Kiran."

At this Ratchet shot a glance at Kiran looking very guilty but trying to hide it. "I… I don't know why that is…" she said.

"Unfortunately the scientists managed to extract that bit of information. Brak is probably on his way now to retrieve it."

"Not if we get there first!" Ratchet grabbed the wheel and swerved the ship into a U-turn, almost giving everyone a heart attack while doing so.

* * *

"They _escaped_! With the information I needed! Why didn't you stop them!" he yelled furiously at the shivering bunch of scientists. 

"A-a-actually… we did get some information."

All at once Brak's iron-clad expression broke into one of normalcy. "Why didn't you say so? Let's hear it!"

"Well, the bit we got was it was hidden in the ruins of the city of Kiran…"

"Of course! Why didn't _I_ think of that! Set a course!"

"Um, you have to report to a ship first…"

"Right… well, good evening gentlemen!"

The poor scientists gave a sigh of relief as their boss walked away. They were safe for yet another day…

* * *

The violet battle cruiser lightly touched down on the landing pad near the rubble of what was once a grand city. 

Kiran's heart ached as she looked upon what used to be her home. Ratchet saw her empty stares and felt a pang of guilt for making her go here.

"Let's just wrap this up, it looks like Brak isn't here yet."

"I have the location; I will input it into your map, Ratchet." Clank said and instantly the map popped up with an area marked in green.

"Let's go…"

Quietly the three of them walked though the deserted ruins. Every step for Kiran felt heavy and the more they pressed on the more remorse and sadness she felt.

Their destination was reached at the ruins of what used to be a grand house.

"This is… my old home…" Kiran said and felt tears come to her eyes. "I never knew he hid it here…"

Ratchet barely heard the last part as he rubbed her back in an attempt to soothe her. "It's all right… we're almost through."

"The part is hidden within the cellar, we should head there now."

"You can wait out here if you want…" offered Ratchet but she shook her head.

"No… I can do this." She said wiping her tears.

Most of the house was missing, but a trap-door still remained untouched. Ratchet lifted it up looking into the inky blackness. "Clank, lights?"

Suddenly Clank's eyes became extremely bright, lighting up the stairs leading down to the cellar.

"Let's do this." Ratchet said as the three of them started down the stairs. Not a lot seemed to be down here, old crates and boxes filled with paper plus other various items. "Now, do you know where we look, Clank?"

"Yes, the item should be in that nearest crate."

Sifting through the box Ratchet grabbed it, the item being small, metallic and cube-shaped. "Got it!"

Once they reached the outside Brak greeted them with a loaded phaser and a menacing ship. "Ah! Ratchet, Clank so nice to finally meet you!"

Ratchet slightly moved in an attempt to reach one of his guns but a 'shoom' sound from Brak's gun caused him to freeze.

"Ah, ah! This thing is fully locked and loaded; I wouldn't move if I were you… now, hands up!"

Ratchet, Kiran and even Clank were forced to raise their hands high into the air. Unfortunately Ratchet was still clutching the part in his left hand.

"I'll take that…" Brak said pressing a button with his free hand causing a robotic arm to shoot out and grab the object.

"Damn you! You'll never get away with this!" Ratchet spat. "I'll find you…"

"Well, of course you will, if you so badly want this back then meet me on Orxon. You are welcome to try to get it back, see you there!" with that the top of his ship closed and zoomed clear out of the atmosphere in a matter of seconds.

"Oh no…" Kiran said feeling a little faint at what just happened. "This is awful… I can't believe…"

"Don't worry, I'll get it back. Let's just rest for tonight; I know somewhere we can go."

Kiran knew he didn't understand and she knew tonight was the night. She had to tell him…

* * *

"Oh, Kale? Mind showing your 'lovely' face? I've got something to tell you…" 

Kale emerged from the shadows with a passive expression. "What is it, brat- oops I mean, Brak?"

"You insolent… I was just coming to tell you, your dear sister wasn't moving along with the plan quickly enough. Also that you failed to keep the final piece to my project hidden. Her and Ratchet were kind enough to bring it right to me… after I threatened them with my laser…" he laughed evilly.

For a moment, Kale's face twisted in worry but he regained his composure. "It doesn't matter; you will _never_ succeed with this plan of yours… I'm going to get out of here and prove it to you."

"Oh, you will? You seem so confident… isn't there someone else in there with you? I'd be careful of what you say…"

At this, Kale snapped utterly and thoroughly he let his rage take over. "You leave her out of this! You're such a coward! Just like your father you can never do anything by yourself! You're reduced to making empty threats to get what you want! You make me sick…"

Brak was a little shaken up by this sudden outburst and backed away slowly. "You're never getting out of there…" was all he said before making his way out of there.

Mandi also felt a little afraid of Kale at this moment, she had never seen anyone get so angry about something. Then she figured being locked in here for extreme periods of time can do that to a person. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I'm sorry… I shouldn't have lost it like that…"

"It's because he's kept you in here all this time, right?"

"Not only that but he's threatened to kill me if my sister doesn't do whatever he asks of her. He's told her that and she's only 16! Also, I couldn't stand to see him try and do the same thing to me with your life."

"Thanks…" Mandi shyly smiled.

Kale gave a small grin. "I will get out of here and make him pay for it."

Mandi was suddenly curious about something but afraid to ask. "Um… this might be wrong of me to ask but… your face… how…?"

"That's a long story… but we've got time right?"

Mandi nodded, interested to hear about whatever he had to tell her.

* * *

Ratchet lightly landed the battle cruiser down on the tropical planet of sandy beaches and crystal-blue waters. 

"Are we on Pokitaru?" Kiran asked in wonder. "I never thought I'd get to visit this planet…"

"Well, I'm on good terms with the manager of the resort here." Ratchet said a little too proudly, he liked impressing her.

Kiran hopped out of the ship and closed her eyes inhaling the salty, summery breezes. "It's so wonderful…"

Ratchet watched her for in that moment she looked so calm and beautiful. Her azure eyes offset by her auburn hair dancing ever-so-slightly in the warm summer breezes. He finally realized she was staring back and got such a shock he fell out of his ship.

Kiran giggled looking at the ridiculous position he had fallen into. His tale was hanging in front of his face and he looked at her upside-down from landing on his head.

"Ha… ha…" he said sarcastically as he pulled himself upright giving his head a couple of shakes to remove the sand. He smiled though, "See? You're happy again." He said.

Kiran's smiled faded when he said this. "Oh… that's right… Ratchet… I…"

"If this is about that part, don't worry, we are going to get it back. Now let's set up some sort of camp near this beach-house."

"That's… not what I mean…" she said a bit too quietly before he ran off to pick up some firewood.

Night had fallen when the three of them were quietly sitting around the warm crackling fire. Clank had a glint in his eye as he stood up and headed towards the cabin. "I must recharge, see you in the morning." He figured they needed some time alone, he had a feeling Kiran had something to tell him.

"'Night Clank." Ratchet said and stretched out on his back looking at the stars.

Kiran took a deep breath and lay down beside him. "Wow… I've never seen stars like these… it's so amazing."

"On Veldin I can point out some constellations, not here though." Ratchet said.

"When my brother and I were little we'd do the same thing on Oltanis. A lot of the other kids there thought we were weird because we had fur and five fingers. I used to get teased a lot… my brother was too because he was different…"

"How much different can you be? I was teased too when I was younger because I was always taller than the other kids."

"Well, he had an accident involving an untested Pyrocitor and got burns on the left side of his face and body. He accepted it though and sometimes used it to his advantage to scare off bullies who were bothering me."

"You sound like you really miss him. I never had any brothers or sisters so I don't know how that is."

"Ratchet… I… I have something to tell you. Something I should have told you the first time we met." Kiran said feeling her heart begin to pound.

Ratchet turned to look at her, a part of him suddenly becoming extremely nervous while feeling excited and anxious. "What is it…?"

"You… you're… you can't go tomorrow to planet Orxon. There's a trap there and you'll be killed…"

"What…?" Ratchet asked now sitting up.

Kiran continued revealing everything. "I was supposed to lead you there because Brak threatened to kill my brother! I didn't know what to do… and I had no idea he had hidden information in Clank but I just wanted to save him. But now that I've gotten to know you I can't let you go tomorrow… you mean too much to me… I don't want to you to die…" she felt unrelenting tears begin pouring down her face. "Go ahead and hate me…" she added and turned away.

It took Ratchet a few moments to digest all the information Kiran had thrown at him. At first he wasn't sure to be angry with her or feel sorry for her. He then realized if he was going to be mad at anyone it was Brak for holding her own brother's life against her to get what he wanted. He was filled with rage at this but seeing her cry tore at his heart and made any anger disappear at this moment.

Kiran let the tears fall as she brought her knees up and buried her face in them. She never expected to feel Ratchet's arms to wrap around her and slightly rock her. "I thought… you'd hate me…" she said between sobs.

"Shh… don't cry, Kiran. I could never hate you, don't you know that by now?" he tipped her face up to look at him, softly he rubbed away her tears.

Kiran relaxed and took a few breaths. "I know… and I know in my heart that I could never heave led you into a trap."

"We're going to rescue your brother, but how did he get in there in the first place?"

"By trying to protect me, after the attack on Oltanis our parents died and he was the only one I had left. One day Brak came down and captured us looking for slaves. To keep me out of jail he went in there himself but Brak used this to his advantage and I became a slave anyway. He holds a huge grudge against you because you killed his father. I had to make you think I was someone else and befriend you…"

"So that's what all the Gagetron protesting was about…" he finally understood.

"There's a robotic monster called Chop Saw waiting for you on Orxon. That's why you can't go…"

"Kiran I have to, and we can use this to our advantage, I'll be ready for whatever he has in store for me."

"Then promise me this, don't let him beat you. No matter what happens to me don't let him beat you…"

He hugged her closer. "I won't."

They soon fell asleep under the twinkling starlight and silver moon. Kiran felt something she hadn't had for a long time, the feeling of safety and reassurance. She remembered being with Kale the last time she had felt that way but it was different with Ratchet. The feeling was somehow deeper than that of a brother and sister, closer even.

'Is this love?' she thought to herself as she drifted off to sleep. Ratchet was thinking the same thing but had a lot on his mind. He needed to be ready for anything and he knew it wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

Meanwhile… 

"Almost got it…" Kale muttered to himself as he carefully decoded the lock with his stolen Infiltrator. A click was heard and the door slowly swung open.

"Yes!" Mandi quietly cheered. "Are we off?"

Kale knew it would be dangerous for her to come along but he couldn't leave her there and he had a million other things to think about. "To Planet Orxon."

"The hangar is this way." She said starting off in that direction.

Kale followed, "I'm coming Kiran…" he said to himself.

* * *

The day dawned hot and sticky on Pokitaru when Kiran woke up and untangled herself from Ratchet's arms. 

Ratchet was still sleeping and taking deep even breaths, Kiran was wondering why she always woke up before him. "How am I supposed to get him up?" she wondered.

Clank hopped down the stairs of the beach-house just in time to see Kiran lean down and give Ratchet a kiss causing him to slowly wake up. He smiled to himself hoping they had finally admitted their feelings.

"Mornin…" Ratchet yawned smiling a bit.

"Morning." Kiran replied. "Shall we?"

He yawned again. "Let me just wake up a bit…" he stretched his arms and legs and gave his head a shake. "All right."

Together the three of them left the warm planet and headed for the green-tinged polluted planet of Orxon.

"Are you sure you want to do this? We could probably escape and go somewhere in the Bogon Galaxy…" Kiran said now having second thoughts.

Ratchet kept a steady gaze ahead of them. "One thing I've learned is you can't run away from your problems. Even if we did try to run away Veldin would be destroyed and you know we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves."

Kiran smacked herself mentally and hated when she forgot about important things when she was afraid. "I'm sorry… I…"

Ratchet took a hand off the steering wheel and lightly squeezed her hand. "It's going to be all right."

"We are approaching the planet Orxon and the coordinates Brak has given us." Clank said suddenly popping up.

Ratchet took his hand back and prepared to land. "Well, I hope Brak has said his prayers because when I'm done they'll be all he has left!"

Brak grinned when he saw the ship show up on his radar. "Ah! It seems the lombax have arrived! Prepare Chop Saw for battle!"

Unbeknownst to him another ship was landing in a compound not shown on his scanners. Kale and Mandi hopped out and walked up to a control panel.

"Ok, we can hack into the Planet Corer's targeting system through here. This is where I need you, Mandi do you have any ideas on what the main password could be?"

"I have no doubt it would be this: type in revenge."

Ratchet hopped out of the ship, the arena was oxygenated so Kiran could hop out as well. Almost immediately she was grabbed from behind causing her to yelp.

"Kiran!" Ratchet aimed his blaster at the enemies but they were too quick. Seconds later he saw her thrown into a room overlooking the arena.

"Ah, Ratchet!" Brak's voice boomed over the loudspeaker. "No need to be alarmed, you'll get her back if you can beat my robot. Which you most definitely won't do!"

"Fight me yourself, coward!" Ratchet yelled.

"A coward am I? You'll see who's throwing the insults when we're done here."

Suddenly a huge 'whoosh' was heard as the floor split open. A platform was slowly moving itself up revealing a very large metallic creature. It appeared to have buzzsaws for each of it's arms and large pointy metal teeth which made a horrible clanking sound every time it open or closed. Its body was lithe and structural, every time it stepped the floor would rumble slightly.

Ratchet's eyes widened a bit at the size of the monster but he wasn't afraid. To him, this was just a very large challenge needing to be beaten.

"Is that the best you got!" He yelled.

Brak was becoming quite infuriated with the impertinent lombax. "ATTACK!" he commanded to the robot.

Its eyes suddenly glowed red as it turned toward Ratchet's direction. Every chainsaw was activated and it made a loud metallic roar before lunging in that direction.

Ratchet jumped out of the way just in time and brought out his Devastator gun. He fired a few shots, unsure if it was doing any damage or not. It only somewhat stunned the monster before it resumed its attack pattern of stab, bite and stomp.

Kiran watched from her prison furious that she had to sit back and watch helplessly while Ratchet risked his life for her. That thought suddenly hit her; he was doing it for _her._ Also to save his planet and rescue her brother but mostly for her! She had to get out of this room, she saw a conveniently placed metal chair and hit it against the door—hard.

Meanwhile Ratchet was doing all he could to just keep his fur from being buzzed off. He strafed to the side and fired some more rockets from his gun. It still wasn't doing anything! He thought to himself, there must be somewhere on the monster that was vulnerable. Then he saw it, on the back of the monster's head he saw a small chip which must be how Brak was controlling it.

"Time for some heavy artillery…" he said to himself and activated the RYNO gun.

He aimed it straight up and noticed he only had one shot on the gun. "I only need one…" the monster was taking advantage of his standing still and rushed towards him.

Ratchet ducked and let the monster go right over him, he then aimed and fired as a dozen rockets shot their way to their mark. All at once the monster powered down and stopped its movement completely.

"Yes! All right!" Ratchet cheered punching the air above him.

"What!" Brak screamed angrily. Then to the side he whispered. "Intoxicate the arena now…"

Ratchet was heading towards the exit when he became extremely drowsy. "Wha…?" he said in question as his movement became heavier.

"It seems the arena is being filled with a lombax sleeping gas." Clank replied hopping off from his backpack position.

"Nuhhya..?" Ratchet said before dropping to the ground. He reached for his O2 helmet button but he felt so tired.

"You must activate your O2 helmet before you…"

At the last second before Ratchet fell asleep Kiran burst through the doors and pressed the button causing the helmet to form into place. He breathed the fresh air and slowly the drowsiness began to fade away.

"Kiran!" he said in surprise and noticed she was also quickly becoming sleepy. "We have to get you out of here!" he said in a muffled voice, she was getting too tired to respond so he lifted her up bridal-style and exited the arena.

* * *

Kale and Mandi had diligently been working on bypassing the security system when Kale finally said. "I'm in; I have access to the targeting system." 

"Can you initiate a self-destruct sequence?"

"Yeah, but it's only a five-minute countdown. Would we be able to get them and get out?"

"We can do it, plus, I know even if I can't… _you_ can do it."

Kale's serious exterior softened as he gently pulled Mandi into his arms for a brief hug. "Thanks, it's been a while since someone other than my sister has believed in me."

Mandi blushed. "You're welcome." She said and looked upon the control panel. "Let's do this."

Kale clicked a few buttons and an alarm began to blare as a female voice spoke on the overhead loudspeaker.

"Warning, the Planet Corer will self destruct in five minutes. Please remove all valuables and (or) beings in the vicinity you wish not to be destroyed. Have a nice day."

"Let's go!" Kale said and stepped on the transport pad activating it once Mandi stepped on it as well.

Meanwhile Brak had absolutely no idea what was going on. All he knew was prey was missing and there was an announcement saying they were going to be blown to smithereens in less than four minutes.

"Who initiated the self-destruct sequence!" he screeched.

Every scientist and thug around just shrugged. "Maybe uh… you know… you did it, like, without even noticing." One of the dumber ones suggested.

"Idiot! There's no way _I_ could have done it! Now, everyone to the escape vehicles!"

Just as Brak was about to leave Kale and Mandi showed up on the transport pad. "You're not going to run away this time…" Kale growled. "We have unfinished business."

Brak was suddenly very afraid of this lombax who easily outsized him. Plus, he happened to be very angry and curled his hand into a very large fist. "W-well, you know w-we've had our differences… I didn't mean to… um…"

"To threaten and blackmail us with our lives! Now, where is my sister?"

"She's locked up on the second floor, I swear! Here's the key!" Brak yelped and tossed the small object which was caught by Mandi.

Kale nodded at her to go look and she left quickly. He stayed behind and just noticed someone else in the room with them.

"What did you do to Ratchet?" he asked, rather confused.

"He's just unconscious." Brak answered quickly.

"Why the hell did you do that? You know how hard it's going to be to get him out of here?"

"Well, I didn't think you'd hack into my system and make it explode! I just realized, I'm ruined, you might as well leave me here."

Just when he said that Mandi arrived breathing heavily. "She's not there." She said.

"Self-destruct will initiate in two minutes." The announcement now said.

"Where is she!" he yelled to Brak who was now attempting to sneak away onto the transport pad.

"I-I don't know! She's supposed to be there!"

"Ratchet's missing as well." Mandi said.

"Looking for someone?"

Everyone turned around to see Ratchet standing there holding a still-asleep Kiran in his arms.

"Are you Kale?" he asked to the obviously older male in the room. "Because… she's getting kinda heavy and…"

"Kiran!" Kale forgot everything he was saying or how he felt and rushed over to hold his sister.

This was just the distraction Brak wanted to give him time to take out his gun.

"Less than a minute to self-destruct, this is your last chance to get out or be blown to bits." The announcer said.

Kiran was just coming to at all the commotion and was surprised to be in her brother's arms. "Kale…?" she said in a voice still thick with sleep. "Is it really you?"

"No joke this time, sis…" Kale answered and hugged her tighter.

"I really hate to break up this reunion but we have to get out of here or we're hosed!" Ratchet said.

"Nobody's going anywhere until I get my revenge…" Brak said pointing the gun at Ratchet.

Kiran looked on in horror as Brak pulled the trigger. "Nooooo!" she yelled. It all happened so fast and Kiran rushed in front to block the shot.

Mandi screamed and Ratchet seethed in anger. "You…" he said in a voice filled with hatred.

"I-it wasn't my fault! She wasn't supposed to do that!" Brak turned to run but he was stopped short as Ratchet's wrench hit its mark. He didn't even see it coming and slumped on the floor.

"20 seconds left!" Mandi screamed when she saw the timer.

Kale picked up his sister and stepped on the transport pad followed by Mandi and then Ratchet.

They ended up a good mile from wherever the building was just in time to see it explode.

Kale was more concerned with other things, Kiran's bullet wound was on her left side and she was in an excruciating amount of pain.

Ratchet knew they had to act fast. "Clank! See exactly where she got shot, maybe there's still time to save her!"

Clank did a quick scan. "It did not hit any vital organs but she is quickly losing blood."

"There's a hospital not far from here." Mandi said. "You can take my ship."

Not long after this the three of them were anxiously waiting to see if Kiran was going to be all right.

"So… you're Kale right…?" Ratchet said trying to make conversation to make the time pass quicker.

"I am… and half the galaxy knows who you are Ratchet. I knew I could trust that Kiran was going to be safe with you. Even though something like this has happened she's going to heal."

"I hope you're right…" Ratchet said.

"You love her, don't you?"

Ratchet was caught off-guard with this question and jumped. "What?"

"You heard me." Kale said smiling a little.

"Yeah…" he admitted. "I do… is that all right? You being her brother and all…"

"Just don't hurt her, or else." Kale said in a low voice slightly scaring Ratchet. "I'm kidding." He said.

Ratchet gave a nervous smile. "Funny…" he said.

The doctor now entered the room through two white-washed doors. "The operation was successful; she's going to be fine."

Everyone jumped up at this. Mandi gave Kale a huge hug and Ratchet just breathed a sigh of relief.

"You may see her now but she is still unconscious." The doctor said.

The four of them gathered around her hospital bed until she slowly came to.

"Please tell me we won." She said weakly.

Ratchet held her hand and slightly rubbed it. "We won."

"So, what now?" she asked, he question directed at Kale.

"Well, for one thing, we need to build a place to stay in." he answered.

"How about Veldin?" Clank said.

"Well, I was going to move back anyway, just in case the Gagetron thing didn't work out." Mandi said thoughtfully.

"Awesome, but do you all have to follow me home?" Ratchet said with an air of sarcasm.

Kale playfully punched him. "I don't think there's much you can do about it anyway."

"Oh yeah? You wanna bet on that, tough guy?"

"Of course, you're probably too scared to face me."

"I'll show you scared, you me sundown."

"Fine."

Ratchet actually looked serious and scared Kiran a bit. "Guys!"

"We're just kidding sis." Kale said and ruffled her reddish hair.

"Anyway, you guys might need some help on your new home, some say I am pretty good with my hands." Ratchet said and clapped a hand over his mouth as he just realized what he just spat out.

Everyone just looked at each other and laughed, while Ratchet tried in vain to explain himself whilst looking very embarrassed.

* * *

Kiran was soon released and building her new home on Veldin, not far from Ratchet's workshop. They had been very busy lately and were nearly finished, Kiran had been spending a lot of time catching up with Kale but she preferred to spend time with another male lombax tonight. Her feelings towards Ratchet were clear now and there was only one thing left to do. 

They had finished work for the day and the first few stars were twinkling onto the fading pink sky.

Ratchet lay down his wrench and wiped his forehead. He just realized something which brought a huge smile to his face. "There's just enough time for a swim in the oasis!"

Kiran had been staring at the disappearing sunset when she heard him call her over. She ran towards him and followed until they reached the palm-treed area. She threw off her gloves while Ratchet pulled his gloves, hat and upper belt. It had been hot work making it easy for them both to jump in the water still warmed from the day.

Ratchet turned onto his back and kicked the water slightly in Kiran's direction.

"Hey!" she said and splashed him back.

He didn't expect the gush of water that now soaked the fur on his face. "Oh, that's it." another projectile of water was set in her direction.

Kiran ducked under the water to dodge the spray. "Missed me!" she said as she resurfaced.

Ratchet wasn't done yet, using his left hand he set up a huge wave of water which completely soaked Kiran making her cough and sputter a bit.

"That's… not fair!" she laughed and swam up closer to him. "It's cheating."

"What? I dare you to explain that one." He said, also swimming towards her.

Kiran began to feel her heart start pounding as she shook her head. For a while she couldn't say anything but continued to stare into his green-eyed gaze. "I love you." she said finally.

Her confession didn't shock Ratchet nearly as much as he expected it to. "I love you too, from the first time I saw you."

This time she didn't have to wait for him to be asleep. It all seemed clear now, when their lips finally met in an ultimate feeling of calmness and serenity. The stars of the Veldin night sky were twinkling brightly now.

A little ways away…

"I was serious back there, he better not hurt her." Kale said. "Why aren't they back yet?"

"Does it matter?" Mandi asked. "I think they need some time alone."

"I guess you're right…"

"Besides, I can get to know you better more easily this way."

He curved his arm around her. "Don't you know me well enough already?"

"Yeah," she said leaning her head into his shoulder. "But soon we'll be neighbours and have jobs and be busy and not have time to see each other."

"Are you kidding?" he said turning to face her. "I'll make time for you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

The End

A/N See! I told you it was going to be long! Wow, 40 pages… I really tried to make this fic original so hopefully I did a pretty good job of it. Please tell me what you thought of it in a nice long review!


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